Jan 26, 2009

Michelle Obama’s inaugural outfits are being met with discontent from African-American members of the fashion community. The Black Artists Association is upset that America’s new First Lady did not wear any designs by an African American designer during Tuesday’s historic inauguration of President Obama.

The new First Lady choose a gold dress and coat by Cuban-American designer Isabel Toledo for her husband’s swearing ceremony and a white one shoulder dress by Jason Wu for the evening’s always buzzworthy inaugural balls.

Both designs have received mixed reviews.

“It’s fine and good if you want to be all ‘Kumbaya’ and ‘We Are the World’ by representing all different countries. But if you are going to have Isabel Toledo do the inauguration dress, and Jason Wu do the evening gown, why not have Kevan Hall, B Michael, Stephen Burrows or any of the other black designers do something too?” Amnau Eele, cofounder of the Black Artists Association and former YSL model told WWD.

She added, “It’s one thing to look at the world without color but she had seven slots to wear designer clothes. Why wasn’t she wearing the clothes of a black designer? That was our moment.”

Now it didn't take a rocket scientist to know that there were going to be some pissed off black folks when it came to the selection of Mrs. Obama's inaugural outfits. I'm pretty sure Kevan Hall, Kai Milla, and other prominent black designers submitted designs to the First Lady and she went with the designs that she liked best. I know there are some that wished she would have chosen a black designer (Kevan Hall would have been my personal choice), but she didn't and we should respect her choice after all she is the First Lady of the United States of America. Rightfully so, we want to claim the Obamas as our own, but we have to remmeber that they belong to all of us. It is what it is.